A reader ask this question “If I have no lactobacillus, and most lactobacillus probiotics are not human source (so will not stay around), is there any hope to recover lactobacillus?”.  Looking at the data I found on 343 samples only 15 samples has no measurable lactobacillus. If the number is very low, ubiome will report it as none.

Those with subsequent ubiomes with lactobacillus.

Some Examples:

• AC:
  • Original: null
  • 2014: 772
  • 2015 1819
• AK
  • 2017-08: null
  • 2017-12: 52
• TK
  • 2016-02: null
  • 2017-01: 936
  • 2017-03: 108
  • 2017-09: 1996

One reader had them wrapped out, I assume due to antibiotics or other prescription drugs.

• 2018-03: 128092
• 2018-05: null

Bottom Line

There appears to be evidence that Lactobacillus will repopulate over time.

I have an extensive list of drugs with their impact on  http://microbiomeprescription.com/Library/GutModifiers.

The question arose in one of my facebook groups — what should I do when I am taking this or that antibiotics.

Conceptually, it is simple —

• Lookup that antibiotic
• See which bacteria it modifies
• See what you can take to counteract it’s effect.

The problem is that for some items, the data volume explodes!

I have added a new link and a new page. When you click on a modifier that is an antibiotic,  for example, http://microbiomeprescription.com/Library/Modifier?mid2=534,

You will see a new link on some of them

Clicking on that, takes you to the suggestions to minimize the antibiotic impact on the microbiome.

More important, at the bottom are things you may wish to give up while on the antibiotic.

Bottom Line

I attempted to keep prescription items off the list, but data still has a lot of cleanup waiting. For example, two antibiotics snucked into the avoid list.

I believe this is the first time, anyone has given science/studies based recommendations on what to do when taking antibiotics. Most of the usual advice has been folk-lore and hearsay. We now have some science.

This is an education post to facilitate discussing this approach with your medical professionals. It is not medical advice for the treatment of any medical condition. Always consult with your medical professional before doing any  changes of diet, supplements or activity. Some items cites may interfere with prescription medicines.

There is a comparison tool at http://microbiomeprescription.com/ which allows you to view change in three different ways:

• Change in number of matches to known illness profiles
• Change in End Products product
• Counts of Bacteria.

How to do it

On the landing page after logging in you will see this at the top. Click it.

You will then be presented with available samples

Select at least two. then click one or another of the three buttons.

Summary — Compare to Profiles

In general, you want your numbers to go DOWN, especially if you have a listed condition

EndProducts – Metabolites produced by the bacteria

Details – by Bacteria, Symptoms, Metabolism

There are three reports here — two may be empty if you did not enter information. The last one is always there: Bacteria Change

Bottom Line

The two easiest to interpret on the first ones:

• How many shifts are matches with known shift in different illnesses
• Are you moving closer to the end products seen in healthy people

From: https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls/ucm612266.htm

The strong associations found with the End Products resulted in a reader asking “Can’t you create a page of recommendations based on symptoms alone?”

This took me back a little – what!!!  Then I realized that it was possible.  The process is simple:

• From the symptoms, determine the End Products with a rough t-score of 3 or more
  • THIS IS BASED ON CONTRIBUTED UBIOMES with SYMPTOMS
• Get all of the bacterias associated with those End Products
• Assume that the t-score is a proxy on how short or high that these bacteria are
• Send this collection of bacteria and shifts off to the recommendation engine…

Voila you have suggestions!  What they are worth is another question — the End Product is still a beta concept, this page would be pre-beta, i.e. an alpha concept.

With the above disclaimers, let us go to show how you can play around with it.

Pick your symptoms

I would suggest working from most frustrating to least frustrating. Add them one at a time.

Go to  http://microbiomeprescription.com/Data/SymptomEndProductExplorer 

I picked

A new page opened

I add another symptom

and Repeat

Bottom Line

This was an interesting challenge — it has logic and science behind. It does not have any clinical experience yet.  I suspect that I will keep adding data… and more important, users will keeping adding ubiome WITH SYMPTOMS.

The above depends on those ubiomes with symptoms. 

BIG DISCLAIMER

This is an education post to facilitate discussing this approach with your medical professionals. It is not medical advice for the treatment of any medical condition. Always consult with your medical professional before doing any  changes of diet, supplements or activity. Some items cites may interfere with prescription medicines.